“together”

Culture or Consequence…part 2

Last week I had the privilege of conducting a focus group discussion with 16 women living in the impoverished township of Ndirande, just within Blantyre’s urban district. These were typical Malawian women… most were married with husbands working low-paying, unskilled or semi-skilled labor, while a few were widowed or abandoned; all had several children, and several had another on the way; none worked outside of the home, yet all filled their day with caring for children, caring for their husbands, caring for their home… selflessly caring, pretty much, for everyone but themselves; all were friendly and welcoming, loving to their children, and laughing with each other. We sat in a big circle in the dirt between two of the cramped houses in this expansive, but crowded urban settlement. The focus group was mainly centered around the challenges these women faced, and nearly everyone shared harrowing stories of discrimination–from their husbands, from the job market, from the “culture”, from everyone. With my job, I have found myself immersed in the plight of women in this country, and learning about discrimination, and outright violence, these women face every day, has, at times, made me utterly ashamed to be a man.

And of course, I’ve thought how a country, or a continent, could treat over half of its population so badly? Many, including myself sometimes, are quick to write this off as simply “Africa’s patriarchal culture” … a long history of cultural oppression and disempowerment that has socially constructed the roles of women to be bound to child-rearing and domestic responsibilities. But that surely can’t be the final explanation, can it? We can’t move forward with gender equality if we are resigned to the fact that the source of inequality is simply entrenched in the culture. Cultural values, norms, and roles cannot transcend basic human rights.

So I asked these women, as my final question of the focus group, “What is the root cause, or source, of gender discrimination in Malawi?”

The answer came without hesitation … uphawi. Uphawi is the Chichewa word for poverty.

Gender discrimination, gender-based violence … culture or consequence? To these women, who experience it every single day, it is a consequence of poverty, hardship, selfishness, and competition for scarce resources. And again, I ask, what exactly is the difference? If there is an anthropologist reading out there… please enlighten.

4 Responses

I had a conversation with two colleagues (British, Danish) about how men cannot deal with women who are more successful than they are. What is telling about this phenomenon is that the UK and especially Denmark are miles ahead of other countries in terms of equality between the sexes; but the ingrained notion of the man as the breadwinner is still very prevalent. Moreover, it is near impossible to find a female partner at my firm that has a family – and I can’t think of a male partner who doesn’t have a family. Women have to choose one or the other.

Another great one, Merc. And Travis makes an interesting point about choosing career or family regarding female lawyers. I think poverty is definitely the factor in Malawi, but there’s clearly deeper inequality that finds a way to permeate even the most wealthy in the UK, US and beyond.